Lesson 6.3 A Closer Look at the Actions Panel
The Actions Panel
When you select a frame and open the Actions Panel, the Window says Frame Actions. When you select a button and open the Actions Panel, theWindow says Object Actions. You can also right click on the frame or object and select Action to open the Actions Panel.
Once you have the Actions Panel open, open the book or set called Actions.
Most of the actions we'll be using for this course are contained in the Actions book. The most commonly used actions for beginning Flashers are "stop", "goto" and "play".
Double clicking on one of the actions in the left pane will enter the appropriate lines of code in the script window pane on the right frame of the window. You can also access these Actions by clicking on the plus sign on the top of the script window and selecting Actions from the list.
Remember that in the Lesson on Text, there was a URL field in the Properties Panel for the static text option of the Text Tool? We could type in a URL and the text functioned as a link to a web page. The user's mouse turned to a hand when the user rolled over the text and when the user released the mouse after a click, the web page was displayed.
Buttons can also link to URLs. In the diagram below the Actions Panel, notice the getURL Action in the Actions set. Instead of accessing it through the left side of the Book Sets, I'm in the script window on the right frame of the Actions Window and have clicked on the plus icon to reveal the menus which have the same listings as those in the Book Sets. Selecting this getURL action will open a parameter enabling you to enter a URL.
You can enter relative or absolute URLs, such as another html page within the same directory as your current Flash site (relative) like "buttons.html" or a URL for another site such as "http://www.myURL.com". You don't need to add the http:// part of the web address. I selected _blank for the Window: field which will open the website in a new window and keep my Flash site open as well. For Variables: leave it at the default. Don't send option.
Please continue to the next section of this lesson.
Up » 6.1 Symbols » 6.2 Scripting Buttons » 6.3 The Actions Panel » 6.4 Using getURL action » 6.5 Usability Tips
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